


April 2011 FicBits

by Merfilly



Category: Birds of Prey (TV), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Multi, Request Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-30
Updated: 2011-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As advertised</p>
            </blockquote>





	April 2011 FicBits

You've been hurting for so long that you can't dig out of the pit. You've made mistakes, and you knew it. You want to be the man with no strings, answering only to yourself. You live for the money, for the skill, for the challenge, you say.

You want more. You may not think you deserve it, but you do want it. It's a lonely place you've found, and it chafes on you like the shackles you swear you won't wear.

I'm here. I see it. I want to break the chains.

All you have to do is let me.

_Dick, to Slade_

* * *

He hated that he was up here. Sitting on a rooftop, on a rare night when he didn't need to patrol, just kind of wishing, hoping for a distraction wearing blue and orange was not the way a responsible vigilante working as a cop should be.

Dick sighed to himself. Granted, Slade had left him with an impression of more frequent visits, but being worried over a two-week absence was ridiculous.

Especially when they were technically on the wrong sides of the fence from each other.

It just didn't seem to stop Dick from wanting to have Slade right there.

* * *

He sat on the tailgate of Mac's truck, heading out of town to the city, a favor earned by sweating on his property over the last week. They drove right past the school, and Slade could see Coach had the team out on the field, practicing, getting ready.

He wouldn't be out there again. The next field he saw he'd be wearing a completely different kind of uniform. He'd be able to pass for eighteen in the city. His country needed him, and he needed the paycheck for Frannie and his half-brother. It was time to put sports away forever.

* * *

She didn't ever fear for herself now. She'd faced the crippling fear of never being worth anything.

She did fear for Huntress, for Dinah, in the work they did. It wasn't an endless fear that paralyzed her, though.

No, the fear that made her wake up in a cold sweat, reaching out to be certain Helena was right there was the fear of becoming like _he_ had been. In his quest, he'd lost sight of love, companionship, and the human need for contact.

Barbara Gordon swore daily that she would never become like that, and dreamed endless nights of that fate overcoming her.

* * *

I play with expensive toys, wear expensive clothes, and if anything makes me upset, it is removed, even if it is another human being. This is who I am, until the night the world seems to end.

I train, even when older family members prefer that I be a pretty thing and leave it all to them. Sal understands, and Sal helps me. This is who they made.

I learn, I am tempered, and I grow into more than a mafia princess with a grudge. Vic approves, in time. Richard merely grants me the tools I need, without judgment. It is who he is, hard won through his own personal crucibles. Maybe, one day, that is who I can be.

I seek to belong, and find a way through the younger part. Only Dick is not really a way to the Bat's approval at all. We part, and I am not upset to not be that woman.

I fight with them, and I push too far. They make me go, and I know that the League is never the right choice for me to be true to who I think I am.

'It will never work', I remember telling myself. Dinah saw it. Barbara was the worst for holding out against my help, and she had many reasons for it. But here, I know who I am. I fit in my skin, at peace with my soul, and I find forgiveness for myself in the way I can be the violence and the mercy in one, guided by _her_ voice.

This is who I am, in a world remade.

_Helena Bertinelli_

* * *

With his ace in the hole, Slade Wilson was certain he'd be able to carry out Grant's last contract to the letter of the deal. In the end, he'd see his son's spirit laid to rest. Then he'd see about vengeance for being manipulated into a contract he had refused emphatically.

It all hinged on two factors. He was sloppy enough on purpose that Addie would pick up the trail. That was one level of insurance. The other was in the nominal leader of the kids themselves. Robin was the key link, despite all the other abilities on the team. All Slade had to do was push the right buttons, and maneuver the kid into being able to show that gorgeous potential in physical and mental prowess.

After that, when all hell broke loose, he'd be able to clean out the HIVE, and still walk away clean.


End file.
